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It’s a heck of a way to run a pre-election campaign. On the eve of an expected election, politicians usually spend their time playing up good news, downplaying the bad, shaking hands and kissing babies.

‘Signature’ Walterdale Bridge could cost Edmonton $250M

Current 98-year-old structure near end of its life

Photo from a City of Edmonton report on the Walterdale Bridge project.

Photograph by: City of Edmonton
, edmontonjournal.com

EDMONTON — A new “signature” Walterdale Bridge and surrounding roadwork could cost nearly $250 million and become a source of pride for Edmonton, a city report says.

Engineers have determined the 98-year-old steel bridge beside the Kinsmen Sports Centre is nearing the end of its useful life and must be replaced by 2014, so councillors asked them to come up with something architecturally striking.

Four potential designs were displayed at a November open house. The arch and cable-stayed bridges received the most positive comments, while the girder and “extradosed” styles were considered boring, says the report released Friday.

“The most significant bridge design criterion seems to be how (it) will fit into its surroundings.”

The open house also outlined four ways to deal with the hairpin turn from Saskatchewan Drive to Queen Elizabeth Road, including shifting Gateway Boulevard one block east and putting it below grade.

Although the current curve functions fairly well and has a reasonable collision record, an alternative should be developed to improve at some point a turn many motorists find undesirable, the report says.

But Coun. Ben Henderson said this piece of the project — estimated to cost from $33 million to $43 million — is expensive and unnecessary.

“That’s not where traffic is backing up … it’s more of a psychological barrier on the part of people than anything else,” he said.

“We spent an awful lot of time and effort building up Old Strathcona and the Whyte Avenue area … all it would do is make a raceway out of something that actually functions pretty well right now.”

The new bridge is slated to have three northbound lanes and one southbound, double the Walterdale’s current total of two northbound lanes.

Planners estimate it will cost between $100 million and $200 million. That would make the entire project one of the most expensive road upgrades in Edmonton history.

Coun. Karen Leibovici isn’t sure where the money will come from.

“We’re starting to hit the top of what we can borrow … our revenue streams are very, very limited.”

But she and Henderson want something attractive put up, which Leibovici said would probably boost the price of the structure by 10 per cent to 20 per cent.

“It doesn’t cost that much more to have a signature bridge and have a design that is effective, but can be an addition to the image of the city of Edmonton,” she said.

“I think we want something that looks good.”

The issue will be discussed Tuesday by council’s transportation and public works committee.

Officials expect to do the final phase of public consultation by March, then make a recommendation for the bridge design and road alignments this spring.

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